Doc Emrick is back at work… calling figure skating

One of the saddest parts of the NHL Lockout is the absence of the best play by play man in sports – Mike Emrick. The voice of the Stanley Cup Finals has seen his already prodigious reputation grow in recent years as one of the top broadcasters in the profession. Doc called Water Polo at this year's London Olympics, but with no NHL games, we haven't seen him since London. That is about to change as NBC has finally found a way to bring Doc back to your living rooms.

Figure skating.

NBC has announced Doc Emrick will call the action from the 2012 Hilton HHonors Skate America this Sunday, the first event of the ISU Grand Prix season. He'll be there with NBC's figure skating analysts Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic and Tracy Wilson. Apparently that extra "H" is not a typo, by the way. NBC has 6 weeks of Figure Skating coverage lined up through December 9th, so at least Doc will be able to stay loose until the NHL finally stops bludgeoning the sport with a sledgehammer and torturing fans with their supervillainous ways. (Which may actually be happening sooner rather than later with recent reports of progress in talks.)

Nevertheless, the novelty of Doc Emrick calling triple salchows and axels instead of slap shots and glove saves may be worth watching. If anybody can get me to tune in for a second of figure skating outside the Winter Olympics, it's Doc Emrick… and Doc Emrick alone.

About Matt Yoder

Award winning sportswriter at The Comeback and Awful Announcing. The biggest cat in the whole wide world.

Those surveyed by Deloitte averaged three streaming service subscriptions, but many weren't thrilled with the numbers of services they had to subscribe to get what they want. That's worth noting for sports, considering the fragmentation in the sports streaming landscape.

The management services provider for two West Virginia sports books and the state's online betting app is in a dispute with a third-party technology vendor, which means those books won't be able to offer early-round March Madness betting.

Those surveyed by Deloitte averaged three streaming service subscriptions, but many weren't thrilled with the numbers of services they had to subscribe to get what they want. That's worth noting for sports, considering the fragmentation in the sports streaming landscape.

The management services provider for two West Virginia sports books and the state's online betting app is in a dispute with a third-party technology vendor, which means those books won't be able to offer early-round March Madness betting.